


Written in Ink

by mycomfortblanket



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: AtLA, Avatar the Last Airbender, F/M, Fluff, Maybe some angst, Slow Burn, Soulmates, Soulmates AU, Taang - Freeform, and I mean f'in slow burn, havent thought that far, thought up most of this last night, tophxaang
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-16 11:15:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29824104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mycomfortblanket/pseuds/mycomfortblanket
Summary: Soulmate AU. When their soulmates name finally appears on their skin, both Aang and Toph are filled with dread but for different reasons.
Relationships: Aang/Toph Beifong, Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 44
Kudos: 74





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, lil info about the names (the soulmark). They are referred to as 'name' and they can appear on any part of your body in different sizes.

The burning Toph felt on her inner wrist made her stomach drop in dread. She runs her finger over the area as if she could feel the name that was being etched into her skin. Thrusting her arm in front of Katara’s face she leans over and whispers, “What does it say?” 

Katara takes her eyes off the professor for a moment to glance at Toph before looking at her wrist, her eyes growing in shock, “Oh my gosh! Your name!”

“I know what it fucking is Katara, but what is the damn name?”

“Uh,” she grabs Toph’s wrist and brings it a little closer to her so that she can make out the small lettering, “It says ‘Aang’. That’s an unusual name; doesn’t sound like it’s from here.”

“Goddammit. Why can’t I be one of those few lucky souls that don’t get a name?” Toph mumbles sinking low into her seat. 

Katara pokes her cheek with her pen, “Come on, you don’t really mean that.”

Ignoring her, Toph reaches out and fumbles with the lanyard on her tape recorder. The thought of a damn soulmate dropping into her life in the next few weeks sounded like literal hell. She was fine on her own, and preferred it, honestly. 

She has heard horror stories about soulmates meeting and them being completely incompatible. Or like Lin Jung’s dad who was actually a serial killer and wasn’t found out until he attempted to kill Lin’s mom. It all just seemed like a giant headache. 

“Don’t tell anyone, okay?” Toph whispers. When she doesn’t receive a reply she nudges Katara’s side, “Hey,  _ don’t _ tell anyone,  _ okay? _ ”

“What, why?” she asks, her brow furrowed. 

“Because, if I do meet him or if someone in the group meets him, I want to scope him out first, make sure he isn’t a fucking weirdo.”

“Whatever. I think you’re thinking too hard on this,” Katara says and turns back to the lecture. 

* * *

Aang feels a small burning sensation on his ribs just under his left pec. Itching the spot, he excuses himself from his current table and heads to the restroom to look. Lifting his shirt up, he sees a name almost 4 inches across his ribs,  _ Toph _ . 

He lets out a deep breath and drops his shirt; he’s been dreading this day for years now. Normally, people getting their soulmates name on their skin is a joyous occasion, something people use as an excuse to throw massive parties. 

Staring at himself in the mirror, Aang runs a hand over his short hair. The bathroom door opens and the owner’s nephew walks in.

“Hey man. You okay? You basically ran back here,” Zuko asks with a smile. 

“Yeah, I just got a name,” he says a little dejected. 

“Why do you sound so upset about it? Isn’t this supposed to be a good thing?” Aang just shrugs and moves towards the door that leads back to the restaurant. “Well, hey. I’m having a party at my apartment tonight. You should come, I’ll text you the address, okay?”

* * *

“I have to pee,” Toph says, excusing herself from the boy who has been hitting on her constantly throughout the night. Making her way over to the bathroom, she locks herself in and turns the sink on. She leans against the counter running her hand under the steady stream of water wasting time. Hopefully, when she goes back out there, the guy will have found a new target for the night. She hated coming to these parties; the music was always too loud, never enough food or alcohol, and some sleez trying to feel her up in hopes of taking her home. 

She hears the doorbell and then a round of cheers as the person is introduced to the crowd. She waits another five minutes in the restroom before unsnapping her cane and walking back into the living room and towards the couch. 

She plops down and hears a, “Oof, hang on.” She feels the side of her hip land on someone before they move. She mumbles out an apology and leans back into the couch, her eyes closed and holding her cane between her legs. 

“Are you okay?” a man asks. 

Toph turns her head to the voice, “Huh? Yeah, I’m fine. Just hoping that same loser from earlier doesn’t come and try to seduce me again. I hid out in the bathroom for twenty minutes in hopes he would lose interest and move on.” The man laughs in response which she can’t help but smile at. He has a really nice laugh, velvety smooth and warm. 

“Well, I’ll protect you against the losers of the room. Do you want me to get you a drink?”

“Oh, you’re just my knight in shining armor aren’t you? Get me some chips while you’re up,” she says, gesturing in a vague direction of the kitchen. 

Toph listens to the party around her while she waits for the guy to return with her drink. Everyone seems to be in various stages of drunkenness. She can feel the couple on the other side of the couch getting a little handsy and making very obscene noises with their mouths. 

“Here,” the guy says, nudging her hand with the drink. 

“Mmmm. Thanks. You didn’t spike this did you?” Toph asks, taking a sip of the drink and looking in the direction of the guy. 

He laughs good naturedly and she hears him dig into a bag of chips, “Now, why would someone admit to spiking someone's drink? That would just ruin all the fun. I got the bag of BBQ chips,” she feels the bag brush her shoulder and she reaches out and grabs a handful of chips and stuffs them in her mouth. 

“Urgh, I always forget how good these fuckers are. Some of the most underrated Lays chips,” Toph says, brushing the crumbs off her shirt and shorts. 

* * *

The two of them have been talking for what seems like forever. The party around them continues to rage, but they somehow manage to block it out and just talk to each other. Aang couldn’t remember the last time he was able to talk to someone this easily. 

She had turned on the couch, pulling a leg up to lay on the couch with them and pressing her shoulder and side into the back of the couch and Aang is practically mimicking her position. He had yet to ask her name, but he kind of liked not knowing it, added to the slight mystery that hung around her. 

He was currently describing the party scene to her in exaggerated detail and making her laugh. He loved her laugh and was constantly trying to get it out of her. He spotted Zuko across the room with his arm draped over a girl with a dark skin complexion and long brown hair. Once they made eye contact, Zuko’s face light up and seemed happy to know that Aang was enjoying himself. 

“Hey man, you guys having fun?” he asked after him and the girl under his arm made their way over to them. 

The girl on the couch with him managed to get her giggles under control and turned to face Zuko, “Yeah, yeah, we’re doing fine. No need to check up on us,” she said, waving her hand at him. 

The girl underneath Zuko’s arm smiled at the pair of them, “I’m Katara, Toph’s roommate.” The smile on Aang’s face immediately drops and he looks over at Toph. 

Zuko sees the quick change of emotion and it slightly worries him, “You okay, Aang?” From the corner of his eyes, he sees Toph whip her head over in Aang’s direction. 

There's a lull in the roar of the party and he just barely hears Toph mutter, “Fuck.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slow chap I know. But we gotta get that sexual tension in there somewhere

“You’re Aang,” there was no question in her voice. 

“You’re Toph.”

“And we’re leaving, come on Zuko,” Katara says, pulling Zuko away from the other two. 

The air between the two of them gets immensely awkward. Aang can't take his eyes off of her, his thoughts are running a million miles an hour, and the only thought that would come to the forefront of his mind was of all the soulmates out there, he certainly could have gotten worse. 

“Listen, I really don’t want to come off as this arrogant bitch who is always unsatisfied, but the whole soulmate thing doesn’t sit well with me. It’s nothing against-” Toph started but Aang lets out a big sigh of relief.

“Oh, thank god. I was trying to figure out how to break it to you that I didn’t want to do the soulmate thing either.”

“Seriously?” Toph asks, her eyebrows raised, “Well, alright then. Uh, I’m going to head home. Long day and all,” she says, standing up and begins to walk towards the front door. 

Aang immediately jumps up and reaches for her elbow, “Wait, you’re walking all the way home?” 

Toph turns towards him, “Yeah. I do it all the time, Katara and Zuko are dating, and I don’t exactly like to be third wheel.”

“Let me walk you home.”

“Ha. Aang, no offense, but I’m not some damsel in distress. I can get home fine on my own.”

“I’m not saying you’re a damsel in distress, but it’s not polite for me to just watch you walk out the door at this time of night and let you walk home,” he says, his voice taking on a frustrated tone. 

“Whatever. But, you’re wasting your time.”

* * *

“How long have you worked at Iroh’s place?” she asks, her cane clicking against the concrete every now and then.

“About a year now, I think. I’m not entirely sure.”

Toph looks over in his direction, “You mean to tell me you’ve worked there for a year and I’m just now meeting you? Katara and I go there all the time.”

“Well, Zuko and I didn’t get along too well at the beginning so Iroh had us working different shifts, so that’s probably why we never met. Or I wasn’t assigned to your table, although, all things considering, I think I would have remembered seeing you,” he says, muttering the last part. 

A blush spreads across Toph’s cheeks and she dips her head hoping that he doesn’t notice. She really wasn’t liking this. The small butterflies that she had been feeling all night while talking to him had erupted to giant ass pterodactyls seconds after she learned his name. 

She was trying her damn hardest not to walk closer to him or lean into his space to smell him. She kept repeating in her mind her beliefs about the Names and how horribly suffocating they were. She should be free to choose who she wants and  _ when _ she wants, not when some stupid inscription shows up on her skin. 

Toph was trying to keep the distance between them and not ask any personal questions but somehow, they seemed to be pulled together by an invisible wire until their hands brushed. She would pull herself away and she could feel him pull away as well, the blush rising higher on her cheeks. 

They finally come to her apartment building and she begins walking up the steps but stops and turned back towards him, “Thanks for walking me home. Sorry about the Names.”

“It’s fine. Was bound to happen, right? Anyways, I’ll see you later,” he steps off the bottom step and watches her walk into the building and punch the button for the elevator. 

* * *

“I just don’t see how a guy working with Zuko that he didn’t get along with never came up!” Toph says harshly into the phone. She’s pacing back in forth in her living room trying not to lose her cool too much. 

“I’m sorry! I thought the name was familiar but it was so long ago that it didn’t even register who it was. 

“Whatever. Did you tell Zuko anything?” Toph asks slightly more calmly. 

“No, you told me not to. When he asked, I just... distracted him.”

“I don’t want to think about  _ how _ you distracted him. It’s fine. I probably won’t see him again. I mean, he worked at Iroh’s place for a year and we never bumped into each other, so it’s fine!”

It was not fine. Now that they have met, they couldn’t seem to stop running into each other. Literally. The first time was a complete accident. Aang had opened the door to the Jasmine Dragon, Iroh’s restaurant, rather quickly and Toph’s cane became stuck underneath the door. The two of them spent at least ten minutes trying to get it unstuck and arguing about whose fault it was.

The next time is in her own home. She had walks out into the living room after a shower in nothing but a towel and her headphones in and makes her way over to the kitchen. Apparently, Katara, Zuko, and Aang were hanging around the kitchen table doing various forms of homework. 

She's digging around in the fridge looking for her Naked smoothies (ironic right) when a gentle hand came to her shoulder and takes out an earbud, “Toph, people are here.”

“WHAT?!” Toph whips around and rips out the other earbud. She clutches the towel close to her body, “Who is here?!” 

“Uh, it’s me, Zuko, and uhhh… Aang,” her voice going low when she says his name. 

Toph’s face immediately went blood red, “Why didn’t you tell me we had people over?!” she hisses.

“Well, you were in the shower and I wasn’t paying attention when you got out, I’m sorry.”

“Whatever, it’s fine. Fuck. Just warn a girl next time,” and with that, she opens the fridge back up and continued looking for her drink. 

* * *

He's focused on the algebraic equation but glances up with he heard a soft voice singing along to  _ Black _ by Pearl Jam, his favorite song. Toph’s walking through the living room, skirting the furniture and reaching out to lightly set her fingers on corners as she passes. 

She’s in nothing but a short towel, her hair piled on top of her head and her earbuds placed firmly in her ear. She walks over to the fridge and begins rummaging around, her fingers dancing from item to item. When she leans over, more of her legs become visible, and Aang can’t help but stare. She’s fucking gorgeous and the more skin that exposed to him, the more he wants to see. 

As soon as Toph bends over, Katara is out of her seat and moving over to Toph to let her know of the audience in the kitchen. Even though Katara spoke low when she said his name, he instantly knew when it registers with Toph that he is seeing her in little to nothing. 

Her eyes scan the kitchen listening for a sound that would direct her to him. Somehow, her eyes land right on him and they make unintentional eye contact which steals his breath away. 

He immediately drops his head onto the table unable to keep looking at her. Toph’s bare shoulders were free of any freckles or acne and looked as smooth as silk. He so badly wanted to run his fingers across her shoulders to see if his assumption is correct. 

Once Toph’s freak out is over, she bends back down and continues looking for something before she snatches it out of the fridge and walks back to her room. 

Katara sits down, her cheeks having a slight blush to them. She glances up at Aang who still has his head down on the table. 

“You okay?”

“Yeah. It's just a lot harder to stay away from her than I thought.”

“I still don't understand why you two won't just talk to each other and get together. You guys had such a great time at the party,” Katara says in a low voice so Toph doesn't hear from her room. 

“I just… I can't get emotionally attached to someone right now. It's… complicated,” Aang says, hoping that's the end of the discussion. 

“Explain it to me then,” Katara says smartly, leaning back in her chair with her arms over her chest. She raises an eyebrow at him and waits for him to start talking. 

“I just… I don't know. My guardian, Monk Gyatso, he past away a year or two ago from some form of rare lung cancer. And just, ever since, I- I don't know. I just haven't wanted to be close to anyone I guess? It sounds stupid when I say it out loud but, in my head it makes sense to me…” Aang says, his voice trailing off at the end of his sentence. 

Katara makes a humming noise in the back of her throat in acknowledgment and cuts her eyes away from Aang and over to Zuko. 

“Has Zuko ever told you about his family?” 

Zuko's eyes go wide when she brings the topic up. Why on earth would she want to talk about that? 

“Long story short, when I met him, he was this super angry person, could barely get a word in without his temper flaring up,” she says, waving her hand in the air. 

“That's not true,” Zuko grumbles.

“It totally is true. When his Name first appeared on his skin, we had actually just made eye contact. He immediately came up to me and started giving me shit for walking into his life, saying that he had enough to deal with and I didn't need to add to it.”

“Oh whatever, I did not say that!”

“You most certainly did. And being the stubborn person I am, I poked a finger in his chest and made him back down. It was slow and hard work, some serious fights broke out between us that I won't go into. But, in the end, it was completely worth it,” she says, her eyes softening when she looks back at Zuko. 

Aang takes a deep breath and sits back in his chair, drumming his fingers on the table in front of him, “Yeah, that's great and all, but it's not always like that. Plus, she doesn't want it either.” 

“Oh, I know her reasoning and it's because she's stubborn about having things decided for her, that's it. Her parents growing up were incredibly over protective cause she’s blind,” she gestured towards Toph’s room, “She would act out any chance she could, which honestly, just made the whole situation  _ that _ much worse.”

Aang looks over to the hallway that Toph had disappeared down. Glancing back at Katara, he just shrugs his shoulder before picking up his pen and continuing his homework. 

* * *

Later that night, Toph heard Katara yell for her from the kitchen. She walks in there in a large tshirt and sweatpants, her hair down and falling over her shoulders. She had put on her baggiest clothes to hide herself after the incident that had happened earlier

“Sokka and his girlfriend are coming over to watch some movie that Zuko has been raving about. Do you want to watch with us?” 

Toph just nods her head as she walks into the kitchen and hops up on the counter as Katara rummaged around the kitchen, preparing something to eat. 

“Is Aang going to be there?” She asks, fiddling with the wooden spoon Katara had just taken out. 

“Uh, I'm actually still here,” he says from the kitchen table. 

“Oh. My bad. So, princess, what's for dinner?” Toph asks, trying to ignore Aang and the butterflies that erupt in her tummy.

“Zuko ordered some pizza, I'm making brownies, Sokka is bringing snacks and yes, before you ask, he did get you your blue sour straws,” Katara says, cutting off any outburst Toph may have had. 

An hour later, everyone had arrived and Aang had been introduced to Sokka as Zuko’s coworker and nothing more, and Sokka’s date had been introduced at Suki, and nothing more. Katara had set up the tv to the opening scene of the movie and wis waiting for everyone to grab their slice of pizza, snacks, and drinks and pick their spots for the movie. 

Toph was the last one into the living room as usual, “Okay all you seeing-eyed creatures, let’s just make this easier for everyone, where am I sitting?”

“Mmm,” Katara says, swallowing her bite of pizza, “Other end of the main couch, next to Aang.”

“Shocker,” Toph mumbles, too low for anyone to hear. She makes her way over to her spot and sits down between Aang and the arm of the couch. She leans her elbow on the arm of the couch and attempts to move herself a little further away from him nonchalantly. 

Aang leans into her a little more and she can feel his breath move the hairs around her neck just before he says, “You’re being totally obvious you know.” His light laugh causes the corners of her lips to turn up involuntarily. 

“My bad,” she says, sitting back normally on the couch. 

“If my cooties really bother you that much, I can sit on the floor.”

Toph snorts which draws the attention of Katara and Suki but they say nothing, “No, sorry. I’ll behave. I’ll be normal.” She pulls her legs up on the couch with her, sitting criss cross applesauce, her knee resting against Aang’s thigh and the other resting on the arm of the couch. She puts her elbow on the arm as well and leans her cheek against her fist and listens to the movie. 

* * *

The heat from Toph’s knee seeps into his pants and it’s all he can think about as the movie continues. She opens her bag of sour straws and points them over his way, offering him one.  It takes him a full three seconds to take his mind off her knee touching his thigh to acknowledge the fact that she is offering him some of her snack. Grabbing on quickly, he shoves it in his mouth and looks over at her. 

She is still looking straight ahead, although a lot more bored. “You bored?” he whispers to her.

She jumps slightly, but turns her head to whisper back, “Yeah. Action movies are kind of hard to follow along with since, you know, I can’t see the ‘action scenes’,” she says, using quotation marks around ‘action scenes'. 

About half way through the movie, she shifts so that both of her feet are curled up on the couch with her, resting against the arm of the couch and just barely touching him. She lays her head down fully onto the arm of the couch as well and closes her eyes. 

He honestly doesn’t blame her for being bored.  _ He’s _ bored. 

He’s always hated action movies so he can’t imagine how bored she must be trying to decipher people with British accents talk during loud car chasing scenes. Eventually, he leans his head back against the couch and closes his eyes as well. 

* * *

The screen finally fades to black and it seems that only Katara and Zuko are still awake. She looks around the room and notes that Aang is leaning against Toph, his head resting against her shoulder as she rests against the arm of the couch. 

Sokka is spread out longways across the other couch with his back tucked into the corner and Suki in between his legs, using his chest as a makeshift pillow. 

“No offense, but that movie sucked,” Katara whispers standing up from the couch and stretching, popping her back in multiple places. 

“Hey, 007 movies are amazing, you just don’t appreciate them correctly…” the two of them head towards her bed room as he continues ranting about the cinematic wonder world of Agent Bond. 


	3. Chapter 3

Waking up on the couch wasn't that unusual for Toph. Even though her bedroom was just down a small hallway from the living room, she often crashed here out of pure laziness. 

But, what was unusual, is the arm she can feel slung over her body. It isn't necessarily wrapped around her waist in a cuddling sense, but more of ‘nowhere to put my arm but over you’. She knows who it is behind her and she tries with everything in her to not smile, but she fails miserably. The pterodactyls in her stomach are causing all sorts of mayhem and she wills them to calm down. 

Against her better judgement, she snuggles down deeper into his embrace. No one would know that she stayed like this for a few more moments and soak up this guilty pleasure. Closing her eyes again, she falls back asleep without meaning to. 

* * *

Aang wakes up with his face covered in long black hair and a dead arm. Lifting his other arm, he pushes the hair out of his face and looks down at the girl who is snuggled into his front. He vaguely remembers them gradually moving so that they were laying down together. 

His head had fallen back and was lodged between the couch cushions and her back and slowly, Toph’s legs had moved from being bunched up in front of her, to stretching out along the couch with his and slowly, they must have worked their way into this position. 

Her face is buried in his neck and her head is resting on his arm that is stretched out underneath her. If he is being completely honest with himself, he really doesn’t want to move from this position, but his bladder is about to explode. 

Carefully untangling himself from her, he tip-toes over to the bathroom to relieve the pressure in his bladder. On his way, he glances at his phone to see that it’s only 6 am, so no chance of anyone else being awake. Walking back to the couch, he wonders what the appropriate thing to do is. He could sleep on the floor, but glancing around, he sees that the only blankets are covering Toph and Sokka and Suki, and he is not about to sleep on the hardwood floor without a blanket. 

Letting out a deep sigh, he climbs back over Toph and attempts to get back in his previous position but accidently jostles her awake, “Stop moving,” she mumbles, rubbing her face against his chest. 

“If you weren’t taking up so much of the couch, I wouldn’t be having trouble,” Aang replies, getting his arm underneath her head again. 

“Whatever, just shut up, I’m sleeping,” she mumbles again before lifting her face slightly to bury it into his neck. 

He tries, he really does, not to smile. He drapes his arm over her waist again and plays with the hem of her shirt as her breathing lulls him back to sleep. 

The smell of pancakes draws him slowly out of his dreams. He notices that he has shifted to his back and Toph was practically on top of him, her cheek resting on his sternum, one of her arms tucked into herself and the other underneath her and her legs were on either side of him. He rubs a hand over his face in annoyance of how he had let himself get into this position so easily.

Aang raises his arms over his head and stretches slightly popping his joints in the process. Moving slowly out from underneath her again, he is finally able to successfully stand up and leave the couch with her still asleep. 

Katara sees him from the kitchen and smiles to herself at how careful he is not to wake Toph. “Hey Aang! Breakfast will be ready in 20 minutes. You can shower if you want, there's towels in the closet.” He glances over at her and nods and starts to make his way towards the bathroom. 

After washing the soap off his body, he stands under the spray of the water for a moment when he hears the bathroom door bang open and then close again.  Through the shower door, he sees Toph standing at the counter, holding her toothbrush and uncapping her toothpaste.

“Fuck, Toph! I'm in the shower!” 

“Cool, make sure to get behind your ears,” she calls back with a mouth full of toothpaste. 

“I mean, I'm naked,”

“Oh no,” she says, sarcastically, she turns towards him with her hand over her eyes, “I promise I won't look.” 

Aang rolls his eyes and turns off the water, grabbing the towel from the bar. Toweling himself off, he steps out of the shower and stands behind her, “That's not what I meant and you know it.” 

“Whatever,” she mumbles, washing off her toothbrush, “Hurry up, Katara is almost done with breakfast and Zuko is a syrup hog.” 

When he finally comes out of the bathroom, he sees the only open spot at the table,  _ of course, _ is next to Toph. His plate is already made with a stack of pancakes, eggs, and a glass of orange juice. 

Aang plops down in the chair next to her, “Thanks for breakfast,” he says to Katara, picking up his fork and scooping up some eggs. 

Toph leans towards him slightly, “She only makes breakfast like this when she gets laid.” 

“Hey!” Katara yells out at the same time Sokka groans, “That's my baby sister!” 

Aang stifles a laugh and looks over at Toph who has a smirk on her face and is smearing Nutella over her pancakes. Even though they weren't necessarily speaking or trying to get close to each other, he felt a strong attraction to her and everything she did. Even her small sentences to him made him smile. 

* * *

The next few days passed without much happening to distinguish the days. He woke up, went to class, worked a shift, and then went home. 

He can count on one hand the amount of time he had seen Toph that week. He’d seen her once at the restaurant but was too busy to actually stop by their table.  The second time was across campus, it was weird how he could spot out in the middle of a crowd. She must have been at least 100 feet away going in the opposite direction, but still, his eyes locked on her instantly.  The last time he had seen her was briefly in Katara's car when she dropped Zuko off for his shift at Jasmine Dragon. He had been wiping down the table by the window when he noticed and Katara caught his eye and smiled and waved at him and said something to Toph who just blushed slightly and sunk lower in her seat. 

Later that same night, Aang invited Zuko over for video games. He had asked if Katara could come as well, but that she would just want to read her book on the couch or something, and Aang didn’t see any problem with that so he agreed. 

Honestly, he should have seen it coming. Toph was standing directly behind Katara when he opened the door so he didn’t see her at first. But when he did, all the air was stolen from his lungs.  She was wearing a faded green t-shirt with black skinny jeans and converse. Her hair was in space buns and she had cute little rocketship earrings in. All he could do was stare at her as she ran her cane across the floor and walked into his apartment. 

Zuko and Katara were taking up one couch, leaving the love seat for him and Toph, “They dragged me along. Claimed I was spending too much time at the apartment,” she said, standing beside him.

“It’s fine. The couch and coffee table are directly in front of you to the left. The lovebirds over there took the big couch.” 

“Figures. They've been trying to get me to text you for a few days now,” she says walking towards the couch. He follows and sits next to her, taking the controller from Zuko when he hands it to him. 

“Ha. Yeah. Zuko put your number in my phone yesterday. It's all I ever hear about at work. ‘The soulmate thing isn't so bad, you guys would hang out all the time. You're perfect for each other’.” Aang says, lowering his voice an octave to impersonate him.  Toph snorts at his lame attempt at mockery and leans back into the couch. Even though Aang is playing the video game with Zuko, him and Toph keep up a steady conversation jumping from topic to topic without any pauses. 

Around 9, Katara’s phone goes off. She stands up and goes into the kitchen, covering one of her ears to hear over the tv.  When she comes back, she glances over at Aang and Toph before shifting her gaze to Zuko, “Sokka’s in the hospital for doing some dare from one of his friends.” She goes over to the coffee table and begins to gather her book and other stuff. 

“Is he okay?” Aang and Zuko both ask at the same time. 

“Yeah, he’s fine. Was just being a dumbass and broke something. I have to go down there and bring him the insurance card and give him a ride home since he's doped up on pain meds.”

“Want me to go with you?” Zuko says, already standing up and pulling his keys out of his pocket. 

Katara smiles at him and nods her head appreciatively, “Toph, are you-”

“Hell no, Princess. I’ll stay here with Aang. He can take me home,” Toph interrupts, crossing her arms and sinking further into the couch.  Katara glances over at Aang who just shrugs and sinks back into the couch as well. 

“Okay, then I'll see you at home. Don't do anything I wouldn't do,” Katara calls out as her and Zuko leave the house. 

“So… what do you want to do?” Aang asks.

* * *

30 minutes after Katara and Zuko left, Aang and Toph are sitting on the couch facing each other with a bowl of popcorn between them. 

Just like at the party and during the video game, the conversation easily flowed from one thing to another. 

“Do you just walk into bathrooms no matter who is in there or what they're doing?” Aang asks through a laugh. 

“I do it to Katara at least once a week and I think I did it to Sokka twice. But, to be fair, I didn't even know he was at the apartment when it happened. You'd think the door would have a lock on it,” Toph says through a mouth full of popcorn.  The smile on Aang’s face hasn't gone away since they started talking a few minutes after Katara and Zuko left. 

She leans into the couch, stretching her arms and legs out and then stands up, walking around the coffee table easily.  Toph turns towards him slightly with her head slightly cocked, “So what's in your living room? I want to get a feel for the place, make sure you don't have a sex swing over in the corner.”

Aang snorts, but stands up as well, “I think Katara would have said something about the sex swing although she didn't say anything about the chains hanging from the ceiling,” he smiles when his lame jokes earns a snort from her. He walks over and stands beside her. “You know where the couch is, and directly next to it is a bookshelf; it's got a bunch of paperback books and some of my old textbooks, some photos of friends, and my little cactus.”

He lightly places his hands on her shoulders and turns her towards the kitchen. When his hands made contact with her shoulders, a shiver runs down her spin and into her hands.

“And this way is the kitchen. It's pretty small and there's no kitchen table, I usually eat my meals at the coffee table or at my desk.” 

Slipping out from underneath his hands, Toph walks over to where he said his bookshelf is. She somehow manages to be directly in front of it with no problem.  She lifts a hand and runs a finger across the spines of the books before pulling one off the shelf. She feels through the pages and can tell that the book is well worn.

“What book is this?”

“Uh,” Aang walks over and shifts the book in her hands so he can see, “That's 'It' by Stephen King. It's about a killer clown that lives in the sewers of a town and kills kids.” 

Toph raises her eyebrows at him and lifts the book towards him, “That sounds badass. Read it to me?” 

“Really? It's a pretty long story, almost 1400 pages.”

“Yeah, read it to me. I like hearing stories but no one ever has time to read to me,” she says, brushing past him again and back towards the couch. 

“Okay…” he says hesitantly. He's never read out loud to anyone and instantly can feel the anxiety rise up in his chest. 

Toph lays down on the couch with the bowl of popcorn in her lap. Aang comes over and sits beside her, opening the book to the first page.  They get about 20 pages in when she is barely able to keep her eyes open. 

“Do you want me to take you home?” He whispers to her. 

“No, Imma sleep right here,” she mumbles 

“How about you sleep in my bed and I'll sleep out here?”

“How about I sleep in your bed and you sleep there too?”  This catches him off guard. Sleeping in the same bed as her? Was she wanting to do something or was she just wanting to sleep? 

Toph keeps her eyes closed and lifts her hands in the air, “Will you carry me? I'm broken and can't move.”  Aang laughs through his nose and gets up, putting the book on the coffee table and moves to gather her in his arms.  Picking her up bridal style he begins to move towards the bedroom. He manages to get her under the covers without too much trouble and pulls the blankets up to her chin. 

“You're going to stay, right?” Toph whispers.

“Uh… no I was going to sleep in the living room.” 

“No, stay with me. No funny business. I just don't like to sleep alone…” she says, her voice becoming quieter as if she is embarrassed.  Aang looks down at her tired face. He breathes out a deep sigh before moving to the other side of the bed and climbing in. He pulls off his pants and tosses them in the general direction of the laundry basket. 

“Ohhh, getting naked, are we?” Toph asks in a slightly suggestive tone with a barely concealed laugh. 

Aang laughs through his nose, “No, dumbass. I can't sleep in pants. I have my boxers on.” 

“Well, shit. If you get to be comfortable, then so do I,” she sits up and I clasps her bra underneath her shirt and pulls it out from her shirt sleeve. Tossing it over the side of the bed she lays back down only to pusher her hips into the air and pull off her shorts, leaving her in some bright blue panties. 

“Those are very nice, did you wear them especially for me?” Aang asks, poking her cheek. 

“Oh whatever. If these old things turn you on, I'd hate to see what a full lingerie set would do to you,” Toph laughs. 

Rolling over to his side of the bed, she places her forehead against his bicep and encircles his arm with her. She throws one of her legs over his and pulls him to her slightly.  “Don't read too much into this, we’re just two people sharing a bed together,” she whispers out. 

“Right… just sharing a bed,” Aang repeats staring up at the ceiling.


End file.
